The patter in Detroit

Saturday

Mar 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMMar 30, 2008 at 8:13 PM

Greetings from Ford Field . . .

Bill Self has guided three teams to the Elite Eight – Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas. In five seasons at Kansas, he has taken the Jayhawks to the elite Eight three times, in 2004, ’07 and ’08. He has never reached the Final Four.

Such is one of the major themes heading into tonight’s Elite Eight game between Kansas and upstart Davidson. Self was not shy about addressing the subject. Indeed, he was forthright.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I’m disappointed personally we haven’t been there yet. I was asked this earlier. I’m sure I’ll be asked some more. It’s something I think about all the time. I mean, I think about it every day in some form of fashion. And a lot of times, many times a day. . . . You know, I would like to eliminate that tag, so to speak, but not for me as much as I’d love to have these players who have won so many games since they’ve been at Kansas. The seniors have won seven of eight Big 12 championship opportunities. I would love for them to add this to their resume because it will be incomplete without it.”

Man, if Kansas loses to DAVIDSON, what will it be like in Lawrence? The pressure is enormous already.

As Davidson has rolled over Georgetown and Wisconsin, as Stephen Curry has averaged better than 34 points along the way, the looming question is: How did Curry slip through so many recruiting nets? Self was asked about that. Self smiled as he responded, “Yeah, I asked my guys if they knew about him. We’d be pretty good if we had him. It’s amazing – but recruiting is such an unknown science. I mean, there’s nothing definitive about it.”

Curry was asked the same question, and he said: “Coming out of high school, I was a little scrawny kid, like maybe 5-6, 5-7, 120 pounds. That’s nowhere near the physical stature you need to be on that (major-power) level coming out of high school. I understood that. I knew I had to just work on my game and hopefully get bigger.”

Curry, a sophomore, has put on more than six inches and at least 50 pounds since high school. Davidson coach Bob McKillop said Curry grew two inches just this past year.

I wonder if he has any more growing left to do. Come to think about it, he has a chance to grow some more tonight, in a span of two hours.

The interview sessions at these tournament sites are often on the boring side – but not here, and not when the Davidson players are on the podium. There’s an interesting dynamic. Curry has become a huge star overnight. His point guard, Jason Richards, leads the nation in assists/game and is often called “Richardson.” Then there is the roster of anonymous internationals who set the high screens. Despite this strange brew, all the Wildcats are handling the thing wonderfully, with honesty and humor.

Asked in being called “Richardson” bothered him, Richards said, “I don’t know. Doesn’t really bother me. I don’t think my name is that hard. The NBA guy, Jason Richardson – that’s why they confuse me. It’s not a big deal to me. It’s just my name.” And then he grinned.

Here was a question thrown at Curry: Steph, in the Kansas media session just now, Russell Robinson suggested your skills are nothing special. He said that if the coach gives you a green light and you teammates are behind him, his concluding quote was, “Once you get those two things down pat, anybody can knock it down.” When you hear a statement like that, what are your thoughts?

Curry: “It’s just his opinion. I mean, our system here definitely allows guys to get shots and the movement we have allows me to use screens. I mean, I haven’t shown much one-on-one, skill-game kind of thing because that’s not what we need here at Davidson. That’s not in our system, (it’s not) anything that’s necessary for our success. I know my role on the team, and that’s to use screens, get open shots, play defense. So, I’m going to stick with that.”

When Curry said, “There’s nothing special I do,” Richardson chimed in and said, “I think he’s lying. Obviously, he has a lot to do with our success. He’s a great player. He can do everything. . . . It’;s a team effort here at Davidson, our entire team and coaching staff – although he has a lot to do with it, I’ll say that.”